


Ten Minutes Ago

by thegreatandpowerfultoaster



Series: Butterfly Effect [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Adventure Zone: Amnesty (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion, Duck is just a regular guy from the get-go here, Fluff, Like most of it is fluff but also i cant write a fic without a setup and i hate it, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not a Crossover, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-13 19:25:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17493833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegreatandpowerfultoaster/pseuds/thegreatandpowerfultoaster
Summary: "I have to go..." Go? But they've only started dancing, and Duck hasn't gotten to know him nearly as well as he wants to. "I'm so, so sorry Duck Newton, but none of this was supposed to happen, this isn't what I came for, I-You won't miss me...Please, please don't miss me the way I'll miss you." He kisses Duck like it's life and death and the clock chimes in nine o'clock behind his haze.But...





	1. Extraordinary

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I'd ever say Mothman and Cinderella in the same sentence but here we are. 
> 
>  
> 
> //Reach for me, there is a beautiful electricity  
> It sings, and it hums in our fingertips  
> And maybe I'm not the same as everyone else around me  
> Maybe I'm not to blame for all of the pain I left behind me//-Extraordinary, Elizaveta

It isn't often that Indrid visits the Amnesty Lodge. It is even less often that he comes and ends up in an argument. 

Although he has never exactly gotten along with the other residents of the lodge, he is never really one to yell, either.

Even if he'd known what was coming, it's still rather unpleasant. Indrid  _likes_  Mama, likes what she's done for his people...but they disagree on a number of fundamental issues and that is perhaps why he shouldn't have asked for her permission.

"And why the hell would you risk your life over this? You can't fix everyhing, and you know that! You should know that by now!"

 His hands are shaking at his sides. She can't see it, he has to remind himself. No one can see it but him, and he can stop this. "It's six people! Six people, I can't just do nothing. An entire family dies but if I'm there I can stop it. If I get caught, then so be it."

 "That's not how it fuckin' works, Indrid!" Mama cries, slamming her fist on her desk, glaring. "Which do you think is better, lettin' what happens happen, or gettin' every single person in this damned lodge caught? Do you know what would happen then?!"

One shaking hand moves towards his glasses and he runs his eyes beneath them. "I won't get caught. I know I won't get caught. Please...I wouldn't go if I wasn't sure if any consequences. Besides, I could've just gone without asking. But this was kind of big, and I thought that it might be a good idea to ask for help."

She shakes her head. Not at him, just at her desk, but even if disapproval wasn't rolling off her in waves he would've seen the plenty of timelines in which she had verbally scolded him some more. 

"You're not doin' it, end of story. I just -" She sighs loudly and pinches the bridge of her nose. "I swear that we've had this conversation before, haven't we? Right before Silver Bridge?"

He's been bracing himself for this moment since he's seen it, but it hasn't seemed to help any. His hands wring and his breath catches in his throat. 

"Things have changed, Mama. I'm sure you're as aware of that as I am." He sounds so calm...he doesn't  _feel_  that calm, and the image of the bridge falling is still playing over and over in his head, as if to reinforce his failure.

"No, I think us havin' this conversation is evidence that it really hasn't. So I'll tell you what, Indrid: You go home and try not to think about it anymore. Move the fuck on, and if it happens, then it's just what fate wants, alright? Nothin' we can do to change it. Nothin' we  _should_  do to change it." 

Indrid has never hated the idea he or 'Fate' as much as he had in that moment. He swallows a few times, trying to disperse the lump in his throat. And he nods. 

Mama seems a bit surprised that he'd backed down so quickly.

"There is nothing I can say to change your mind. Thank you for hearing me out, but I suppose I can only pray that I doesn't occur." He begins to leave before she coughs and he turns towards her once again, careful to keep his expression a bit hurt.

Her expression softens slightly. "You ought to come around more, Indrid. Your people miss 'ya."

"My...My current living situation is for the best. You don't...They don't miss _me._ "

He shouldn't feel a pleased or vindicated as he turns away after seeing her guilty look.

It isn't as if Indrid is incapable of lying. He is a fantastic liar, a byproduct of being able to see possible consequences. He intends to go, even though he hasn't got Mama's approval. 

She'll send Barclay out to check on him tonight, but he'll be long back by then. And he'll even find an alibi. He doesn't have one, yet but it wouldn't be so difficult, under the circumstances. 

As he searches the future, he sees something...rather unexpected becoming more and more likely as his resolve hardens towards this plan. He sees himself and a man, dancing. He could kiss him. Sometimes he does...a complete stranger, perhaps but future Indrid is always happy to kiss him.

How strange, and yet entrancing. Nothing else has quite solidified into existence yet, although he finds himself sucked into the possibilities. How unlike himself. how...unsafe. Danger doesn't usually thrill him, but this is an almost exciting prospect.

And into his head comes the very source of his alibi for tonight...excellent and rather convenient, at least at first glance.

Indrid is apparently so wrapped up in these visions that he forgets to look where he is going in the here-and-now, and neither was whoever he bumped into in the lobby of the lodge.

His glasses almost fall and there is what feels like a century of panic before he realizes that they had not fallen. Only could have. Only almost, but they hadn't, and his cover is not blown, and he can stay here and...and...

"Hey!" Cries out whoever he'd ran into. They don't sound angry, though, which his overwhelmed brain can't exactly process at the moment. "You okay? Sorry I was...uh...Listening to Dr. Harris Bonkers."

He doesn't know what that even means, but more anyways and blinks a few times until the scene comes into view, and his brain starts into overdrive again. Dr. Harris Bonkers...is the rabbit. And her name is Aubrey.

"No, no I'm fine, thank you. I wasn't watching where I was going either, I'm sorry."

"Nah, we're all good, even-Steven and all that. Hey-"

" _Fabulous glasses._ Thank you. And no you may not have them, thank you for wanting to ask so politely though." He considers her for a minuite. "Aubrey Little, how would you like to help me with something? Something that would save lives, but unfortunately Mama thinks there's too big of a risk to intervene."

 Her eyes widen, and she seems to consider the offer, but not for long. 

Certainly not as long as she should have considered it, but she's a bit unpredictable, and awful clever. That's exactly why she's a good bet. "Well...y'know, I usually don't just accept offers like that from people I met three seconds ago, but I know a few things about the lodge if you catch my drift..."

He does, and nods. "Its best if we don't talk about it here, though. Can we talk in my Winnebago?"

 "Sure, not creepy at all. Meet me hand off my rabbit to my girlfr-uhh friend."

Despite the more than obvious sarcasm near the beginning there, Aubrey comes with him. 

He's working on unlocking the front door when Aubrey leans forward a little, within his view and makes a weird noise. "So uh...what are you. Like...like Dani? Like a Vampire or another Bigfoot or...?"

"Mothman," he says, opening the door. The word always tastes a little bad in his mouth, but is even a little worse sounding after earliers revisiting of the Silver Bridge incident. "And still no on the glasses thing. Watch out for Billy, he'll probably like you just fine but I'm sure he might be a bit jarring to see."

She's snorts at him. "Last month  I found out I had magic and now I'm standing next to mothman. I don't think anything could be jarring to me anymore. Unless 'Billy' is some tentacled eldrich abomination. Might not be ready for that one."

Indrid shakes his head. "Just a Goat-Man, and a nice one at that. Still might come as a bit of shock but at least now you're not going to break anything....probably."

"You're a riot," Aubrey tells him, pushing past to make her way into the Winnebago first. "And probably a hoarder! She calls once inside, and it's answered by a happy call of 'Pizza'. She yells and something falls.

Oh well, he supposed there was always a chance and...he's been meaning to get some new plates anyways. 

Not that he really had a choice in the matter, now. 

Indrid closes the door behind him, rather pleased to be back in his warm home, and perhaps not as antcy as he should be, with a near stranger in his home and the little feat that he would be pulling off tonight.

"Don't worry about cleaning that up, Aubrey, I'll get it. Just sit down and I'll try to explain the situation to you."

He's sweeping up the glass as he speaks, and trying to look forward, seeing if anything has become more clear. "You see, there is going to be a car crash tonight not far from the Cryptonomica...It will be fatal. You know where that is, right?"

She nods. "Sure do, my friend Ned runs it. He's been having some party over there tonight or something-Dani and I are going together. What are you going to do that Mama doesn't want you to?"

 "Reveal myself, and before you say anything yes, that is risky but I'm quite aware of the possible futures and the things they could bring. It will just be for a moment, to stall the driver for long enough to stop the crash. I will not be caught. I  _know_  I will not be caught, Aubrey."

 She looks a little unsure, maybe but she isn't blatantly opposing him the way Mama had, and Indrid supposes that is a start. She wrings her handed for a minute. "I mean...As long as you're sure, I don't see a way it can hurt anybody. How can I help?"

Billy has now wandered over to Aubrey, and as he had been expecting, his charge doesn't seem to be afraid of her, just curious. "You can get me an invitation to that part, to begin with. And if you can do that, then we should talk about your enchanting skills. I'll need an object to change to distract the driver leaving the party, but I'm afraid I can't do it alone."

 "I've been learning how to do that! Yeah, I think I can help you...But what if Dani sees you and tells Mama? Or won't she come and check on you or something? "

She has...a lot of questions.

Some she isn't even asking and he's a little too grateful for that, but he does have answers prepared, being that he has been preparing since the plan first crossed his mind. "Dani won't see me. I'll -" He stops to look again at the image of them dancing, obviously entranced with the man across from him. "I'll stay out of the way, of course. And I'll be long back by the time Mama sends someone to check on me."

Aubrey nods. "Okay."

 Just okay? No more questions? Oh, nevermind. He sees one coming, and cuts it off just before she can start. "It really doesn't matter what you wear to the party, Aubrey. Dani will like whatever you wear. And this is not foresight speaking, just as someone who knew Dani for a long time, but dance with her. She loves dancing."

 "Gee, thanks!"

"Anytime, Aubrey. I don't..I'm not around the lodge, like the others, but I am fairly well-versed in a few things, and would be happy to help with what ever you needed. Thank you for your help, as well. "

He'd never admit it aloud, of course but he's becoming exited for tonight as well. He's meeting someone, who by all accounts seems to wedge his way past his carefully made walls.

That terrifies him a little. He doesn't get close to would-be can't! But (and oh, it's so silly) he's already feeling a very deep connection to this man and Indrid cannot wait to meet him.


	2. Sirens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //Out in the darkness I saw an angel Held back the flood, until the sky fell I see the future covered in roses Waves of gold as the door closes//-Sirens, Fleurie

Duck Newton hates parties. He's spent the entire time either following Juno like a lost puppy or standing in the corner by himself after she'd told him to socialize for himself.

Like come on Juno, she's known him long enough to know that's an unrealistic thing to ask. One -on-one, sure it wasn't like he was hopeless, but at a party? No way.

So he occupies himself by watching the door discreetly, looking at everyone coming in. And he knows most people-Kepler is a small town-but not this one.

Oh, the stranger entering now is...interesting to look at. Not conventionally attractive, maybe. But interesting. And he's suddenly a lot more happy that he'd let Ned convince him to show.

Before Duck even knows what he's doing, he's taking a hesitant step forward and trying to get a good look at the stranger standing near the door. He's got curly-ish, stark white hair with bits of black just beginning to peak through at the top. 

He's tall, but not quite as tall as Duck. Still bigger than Ned or Kirby or most people in the room, actually. And he looks young..maybe a little younger than duck. Maybe the same age? It's awfully hard to tell from here.

The thing that stands out the most about this man, though are his glasses. Big, red glasses that Duck can't see through at all, and the way they catch the light...Can't be described as anything but interesting.

He thinks...well, it's really hard to tell, maybe impossible to tell with those bright red glasses, but he thinks maybe this newcomer is looking at him.

They meet near the door, somehow-Duck can't remember moving at all, but here they are. 

And the man smiles at him, and his heart stops. And...and maybe he is lonely, without anyone but his cat and occasionally Ned and Aubrey to keep him company, and maybe that's why it catches him so off guard, but...He's not really sure. 

Duck is getting the impression that if love at first sight were real thing, it would be exactly like this. 

"Hello," the man smiles at him again, a little bit wider, and it would be unnerving if he weren't so totally head over heels. "I...I couldn't help but notice that you looked a little uncomfortable and well...I don't know anyone at this party, not really but...You seem like a nice enough person."

He doesn't know how to respond that that. "Uh...yeah. I'm maybe...not the most interesting or anything but I uh...you're new to Kepler?"

The man shrugs a little. "Sort of. I lived here for a little bit a very long time ago. But...I'm back. Maybe for good, I'm not entirely sure yet. Have you lived here for long? "

"M'whole life," he smiles a little, sparing an small look at the clock. "Want to go sit down somewhere out of the way or somethin'?"

His toothy smile softens a little bit. "I think that I'd love that, Duck." He feels like he's known this man for forever aready. 

They talk, and talk, and talk. Duck definitely talks more (which he isn't really used to), but it isn't like he's not talking either. His favorite drink is eggnog, his favorite color is red. He says he's practically blind without his glasses but Duck still kind of wants to take them off and look at his eyes. 

It's too soon for that, right? Yeah, maybe that's just Duck being a total dork. 

And then his line of thinking turns quickly into the fact that this guy is still a stranger, and he doesn't really know him at all, no matter how much he feels like he does.

But even that's quickly cut off by a smaller, cold hand on his. "So you....Well, I know this is forward of me, but would you like to dance? I'm afraid I'm not especially well-versed in how people dance nowadays, but...I'd sure like to."

Duck manages to nod, attention still fully fixed on the hand on his, trying to determine his next move.

Maybe he should be reassuring him that he's almost never this much of a dope around anyone else, but that seems kind of like a terrible idea, so not that. What he ends up doing is psyching himself to standing up and taking his hand.

"I'd love to dance with 'ya...Not that I'm especially great at it either. We can uh...Figure it out together. If you want?"

He nods, looking a bit excited, and that's all it takes before Duck practically skips to the dance floor-or rather the rather large, open middle of the Cryptinomica, cleared for this exact purpose. 

And Ned is definitely trying to mettle across the room with his varied playlist, or maybe it's just bad timing because the song that's coming on now happens to be...one of Duck's favorites of course, because fuck if he's not kind of a vintage music nerd. But it's also a lot slower than anything he's noticed playing so far. Slow enough to warrant switching to a far closer dance.

His partner looks relived, actually. "Now this I can do. Do you mind if I lead? "

"No," they end up saying at the same time, and his pale skin flushes and his free hand flies to his. mouth. "Sorry. Bad habit."

Duck doesn't even think twice over the incident.

"Nah, you're fine. Uh, left or right hand?"

They end up pushed together pretty closely-Who is Duck kidding? They're chest to chest, and at first it's awkward as hell, and Duck is pretty sure he might pass out, but that fades surprisingly quickly, and he seems equally comfortable with Duck.

"Hey, uh..." Duck is still trying to figure out what he wants to say, to not scare him off as quickly as he'd come. "Maybe it's gonna sound crazy, but uh..."

He stumbles over the words again, but he's saved, as though he already known what Duck was going to say. "You feel some sort of connection between us? I certainly do, but I have to admit that I don't think I'm quite the person you deserve."

That's a laugh. Duck could laugh. He hasn't got a clue what Duck deserves. Stoner teenager turned forest ranger in a last ditch effort to not be stuck doing something he hated his whole life, and that led to his sad little apartment and his sad little cat...

He deserves better than Duck. He's sweet, obviously well-read and traveled, and a ton of things Duck could never hope to be.

"I know you probably don't feel like that's true," Duck feels his breath against his ear, burning hot in a stark contrast to the man's freezing hands resting comfortably on the back of his neck. "But it is."

"You're fascinatin', and you talk like you can read minds, you ever been told that?"

He laughs, tilting his head back with joy. Duck can't decide what he likes better; His high, lilting laugh, or his wide, reddish brown eyes behind the ridiculous glasses, full of emotion. 

They turn, still pressed together as though they've known one another for forever, but the moment they do, the man across from Duck sharply inhales and pushes back quickly. 

"I have to go..." Go? But they've only started dancing, and Duck hasn't gotten to know him nearly as well as he wants to. "I'm so, so sorry Duck Newton, but none of this was supposed to happen, this isn't what I came for, I-You won't miss me...Please, please don't miss me the way I'll miss you." He kisses Duck like it's life and death and the clock chimes in nine o'clock behind his haze.

But...

Duck is struck speechless, of course and before he can even get a protesting word in edgewise the man is gone. 

"Wait!" He calls and although he isn't paying any attention, the entire room has now turned to gape at him, waving his arms around frantically and trying his best to push through the crowd towards this door that he's certain the man disappeared through.

"Wait!" He cried again. "I don't even know your name! Wait," again, quieter. Not more resigned, just tired, because he's alone again. 

The man is very long gone it would seem, nowhere in sight. Duck leans, exhausted in the doorway, heaving and trying to ignore the tears threatening to spill out. He can't get anything right, can he? Can't even remember to ask someone's fuckin' name- 

Crunch.

What are-Oh, oh lord. He broke them....just beneath his foot are a pair of big, red, opaque glasses serving no purpose but to remind him of the huge mistake he's just made.

Slowly but surely he manages to bend down and pick up the glasses. One earpeice is hopelessly bent, and one lens is cracked but other than that he can almost pretend that he's still wearing them.

Before Ned or Kirby can come check on him, Duck decides exactly what he's going to do. He gently folds the glasses up as neatly as they'll go now that he's stepped on them, and walks out to his car.

He doesn't end up sleeping much that night, but when he does, all he can see is a strangely perfect grin and bright red glasses.

Juno can always tell when there's something wrong with him, of course and Ducks always been more than just shit at lying. 

"Hey," she catches him right before he's out the door, off to a full day of looking at trees. "You doin' alright? I saw that guy you were dancin' with last night run off...you know that wasn't your fault, right?"

He tries to laugh genuinely, but between not really feeling it and the weight of the glasses in his pocket, Duck doubts it comes out right. "I know, he probably didn't even like guys...'Course, Juno. M'not...It's stupid, why'd I be upset about that?"

She looks at him as they both stand in silence for hours and hours. "That's the worst lie you've ever told me, Duck."

After that he's not really feeling like taking the usual measurements, and after doing just enough to get by, he walks aimlessly around the Monongahela for a while, wishing he could take the same pleasure in it that he usually can.

Today, though it feels more like the trees want to trap him inside when the sun begins to go down. 

It takes him three days of this for Duck to crack, entirely and call the only person he can think of for help. At first he's sure that she'd be happy to help, but he is not getting that impression, the way she's a bit quiet and avoiding his very specific questions.

"But can ya' use your 'talents' to help or not? To track 'im or somethin'?"

He hears the distinct sound of her shifting uncomfortably across the line. "Uh, I dunno, Duck. Sometimes you just have to leave it. He ran away, didn't he? My talent is kind of fickle at the moment."

"You gotta help me, Aubrey, you gotta jus' try!" He hisses into the reciever. " Please? It's all I got, and I can't just let it go. I'm hopelessly fuckin' in love with a stanger, and I deserve an explanation for why he ran, at least. "

"Man! You are super into this guy! Fine, fine. Just don't let anything about this get back to Mama or Barclay, they'll kill me! Probably literally. Can I come by to you're apartment in an hour?"

He nods emphatically, even though she can't see, and Juno's giving him a look from the other side of the office. "Yeah, yeah please. Thanks, Aubrey. I promise I can make it worth your while somehow!"

She snorts. "Just happy to help, I guess. See you in an hour, lover boy! "

For a moment he feels a bit of the weight run off of his shoulders. Yeah, that's all. Just an explanation. Ha! 

The thing is, Duck is sure-nah, he needs a bigger word than that-Duck is Definite that the poor guy didn't want to leave him. Yeah, just poor circumstances, and nerves, and it was getting late. That was all.

Excwpt, his anxiety is definitely telling him otherwise, and so was the "This wasn't supposed to happen," at the end of their dance...wait...wait?

Did duck tell him his full name and then forget to ask for his? He can't remember it, but oh god. He's the worst, isn't he? He must be the worst. No wonder he'd left.

But he can make it one hour, and then he'll know. He can do that...right? 

Just one more hour!


	3. Ten Minutes Ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //Ten minutes ago, I saw you  
> I looked up when you came through the door  
> My head started reeling  
> You gave me the feeling  
> The room had no ceiling or floor//-Ten Minutes Ago, Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella

Aubrey comes to his door, and in his stupor, he lets her in. It takes a while to find the door, so he makes sure that he leaves himself enough time to find it and still make a dramatic impression.

God, he's really blind without his glasses. He's never lost anything before, or...at least anything so important. But that's alright, Barclay is already working to get him new ones.

"Oh, shit!" Aubrey gasps. Indrid tries not to sigh loudly. 

"You're the mothman!" he finishes for her. "You knew that, Aubrey. We had already established that."

"Yeah, but seeing it is something else. Uh, speaking of that, we really need to talk." 

"About?"

"Duck 'Well Fuck' Newton, mostly. Also your glasses. maybe the mothman thing some more, I haven't decided yet. And I was going to ask if you wanted to go for lunch but uh...I dunno if that's gonna work since...Mothman. "

His heart seizes up and refuses to work at that name. Of all the mistakes he could've avoided...this was certainly up there in severity. And he's managed to mess a lot of things up. "I...I can't see him, Aubrey."

Aubrey throws up her hands "Well uh...? Can I come in? This kind of has to be a full on conversation, not just you telling me to fuck off."

She's going to insist no matter what he does, so he let's her in, prompting a happy bleat from Billy in the corner of the Winnabago. He's focused on that for just a moment and almost trips on a vauge blue blob on the floor. 

Whether he can thank foresight or what's left of his vision for that narrow escape, Indrid doesn't know, doesn't know if it matters, either. 

Actually, in the last few days he's been having a bit of a hard time seeing things clearly, in the foresight sense. He supposes that his bad mood and extended time in his Sylvian form after so long could attribute to that, or far more likely his preoccupation with reliving his dance with Duck Newton.

There were futures where Duck had kissed him before he had managed to flee. Futures where they didn't even make it to dance before that happened. A few where they got even further than that.

Indrid has been trying to ignore those ones exist, but it's an uphill battle. The future however...seems uncertain. more so than usual, even. 

He might see Duck again in any number of situations, or he might not.

"Are you going to try to convince me to see him again?" He asks in Aubrey's general direction. "I've already messed things up enough for him and...people don't often take kindly to me when they see how I really look."

She scoffs, and is quiet for a minuite. It looks as though she's letting Billy push his horns against her hand, and he swears that he's already told her what a bad idea that is, so he won't waste breath on it again. "He's not like that."

"You haven't known him for very long," he points out, sitting down on the couch. 

"So? He's good people. I mean, he looks at trees all day, what does that tell you? Not important. The important things is, is that he asked me to try to find you. ...but I told him I couldn't get a read on it, and I feel super duper bad. "

"What would you like me to do about that, Aubrey?" He asks flatly, and then as soon as she opens her mouth he goes on. "Absolutely not. by the time I can even appear as a human again, he'll have gotten over me. I promise."

It's quiet again for a minuite, except for the one moment where there's a loud, "Pizza!" 

And then her long, long sigh. "Is that Seer Indrid talking? Or is it Commitment Issues Indrid?"

He doesn't bother to answer that. "I think you ought to get going, Barclay is going to make French Onion soup for lunch, and there will be a spot next to Dani for you."

"...That's his favorite, " she says sadly.

"Pardon?"

"French Onion Soup. It's Duck's favorite. I guess you wouldn't have known that, would you have? You only knew him for a little bit."

Indrid doesn't think he's ever felt so overwhelmingly terrible and yet so empty. She's guilt-tripping him, and it's working, because without a doubt he loves Duck.

And that isn't changing anytime that he can see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! We're almost at the end here, I hope you've been enjoying! If so, consider dropping me a prompt for a story at goodmorningaperture.tumblr.com, or visiting my wonderful, unofficial co-author at ask-indrid.tumblr.com!


	4. Arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //You put your arms around me  
> And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go  
> You put your arms around me and I'm home//-Arms, Christina Perri

"Still nothin'?"

Aubrey shakes her head and scoops up another bite of soup. "Nope," she says, trying to pop the p around the food, and Duck winces.

He didn't really expect anything else, but it still hurts. "Can I...Can I have 'em back, then? The glasses I mean."

She nods and digs into her pocket and slides the broken red glasses across the table. "Sorry I couldn't find anything!"

Duck smiles a little, trying to seem sincere. "It's fine. I know even everythin' has its limits, even...y'know."

There's still a lot he doesn't understand about Aubrey's magic, and a lot she doesn't understand herself, sounds like. But he's seen it himself, and has plenty of reason to trust in whatever the hell is actually happening at Amnesty Lodge.

Not that he wants details. There's bliss in ignorance, and even if Duck didn't have faith in anything else he'd still have faith in that.

He reaches out to reverently pick up the glasses, but his hand is swatted away and Mama, suddenly standing over the table has them in her hands. 

"Aubrey Little, are these what I think they are?"

Aubrey starts to choke on her soup. Duck pretends like he might be brave enough to stand up and take back the glasses, but Mama's acting like she and Aubrey know something about them that he doesn't.

"Uh! Yeah, mama, I promise I've got a great, spectacular explanation about how those got here. It's awesome."

"Damnit, Aubrey we are gonna have a talk, you 'n me, and you know what's gonna happen then? You're gonna fix this problem and then you're gonna be washin' the entire fuckin' lodge by yourself for at least a month." She drops the glasses back onto the table.

Wow, that's almost Ducks usual brand of bad lying right there. Except then Mama turns her wrath on Duck, for some unexplainable reason. Well, shit. 

"And you! You'd better pray to fuckin' god you had nothin' to do with this or else you don't even wanna know what I'm gonna have to do with you. I've let this go on for too long, Duck Newton and you know too much."

Was that...a death threat? Sucks pretty sure that was a death threat, and reacts by throwing his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, hey! I don' even know who owns them, I jus'...Hey, wait! Aubrey? Quick question, what the actual fuck? You said you couldn't get a read!"

"I lied! please don't arrest me! And Mama, please don't kill me! He just really wanted to go, and help, and I thought if-"

Mama puts her hands on her hips. "We talked about this! We fuckin' talked about this, Aubrey! You and I talked, me an' him talked...why was that not enough for you two? I gotta..." She takes a long, deep couple of breaths. "I gotta make a call or two. Sounds like you oughta start fixin' this, Aubrey."

Aubrey is a few shades darker than normal, and won't meet ducks eyes until Mama stalks off to her office. 

"Sorry," she whispers. 

"I'm pissed. But...I'm sure you had a good reason, I just..."

"Love him?"

His head falls into his hands. "Yeah, I do."

"Sorry," she says again, quietly, and offers him the glasses Mama had put back on the table during her chastising. They're no worse for wear after all that. He picks them up, even though it feels hopeless, like a momento for a moment he can never revisit, rather than proof of hope for the future.

He leaves without finishing his soup. He's just...gotta take a walk. Gotta clear his head and figure out what his next plan even is.

Duck drives his truck pretty far into the Monongohela. The nearby campground is usually empty now that it's getting colder. He doesn't go quite that far, but parks his truck and just heads in that direction. 

Having a direction to go in, a destination in mind, is nice. 

Eventually he reaches the campground, which is supposed to be empty, but...it isn't.

There's an old Winnebago sitting there, and even looks like it's been there for a while. But...no one's payed to be there.

Duck sighs and considers turning back. This isn't...well it's Saturday and he's off work, so it isn't really his problem. Might as well just deal with it, though, right? He makes his way up to the 'bago and knocks on the door. Something inside shatters and there's...a goat noise? Is someone keeping a goat in there? What the actual fuck?

Something else crashes inside but the door opens.

There is not a person standing in the doorway. Duck can't even scream, he just stares. It's tall, with red eyes, and has wings, and it sort of looks like a fluffy insect so...a moth?

Holy shit. 

"It really is rude to stare, although I know I'm a bit of a sight, aren't I?" Comes an unexpectedly familiar voice. "If you don't want to come in, could I at least have my glasses back? I really am blind without them."

He hands the man...mothman...back his glasses, and as soon as they're back on, he's just as familiar as the voice. "You're...you're..."

It seems like whatever effect the glasses have (turning him into a human?) Is lessened with the glasses broken. Where they sit lopsided on his face a little bit of fuzz still pokes out, and behind the broken lense his eyes are still a bright red. 

But it is him, no mistaking it. And god, it's kind of cute? Duck opens his mouth to speak, but he talks first.

"Me, yep. I guess I have quite a bit of explaining to do, don't I?"

He finally manages to get a word out. " Yeah I...I think you do. "

He smiles that unnerving smile. "I'll do the best that I can. Would you come in? Mind the goat-man, he can be a bit pushy at times."

Duck isn't even sure what that means, until he breaches into the hot 'bago and sees only maybe the third weirdest thing he'd seen today.

Yep, it's a goat-man. "Pizza!" 

And the fact that that's third on the list says a lot about...this entire week, actually. He is featured towards the couch, where he sits down an d takes in more of the scenery. Goat man aside, this is not really what he was expecting. 

"I'm sorry for any worry I caused...I'm afraid going out that night was one of my poorer judgement calls. I did what I set out too successfully, and I am glad about that, no mistake, but-but...you're here now! I'm glad! It was very likely that this wouldn't happen at all."

What's that supposed to mean exactly, Duck wonders. He runs a hand through his hair and takes another long look around before even trying to talk again. "Thats...I...I'm actually real lost. Can you start explain' with...I dunno, your name or somethin', and then try to tell me what the hell is goin' on?"

He nods egarly. "My name is Indrid Cold. And the rest is a bit harder to explain."

Indrid. Indrid Cold. He knows that name, of course. But Indrid is a nice name, and while he wants to know what's going on here, he also figures that it can't be much weirder than Aubrey's magic...right?

Please, please don't let it be worse than he keeps thinking about? Not when things could possibly, somehow go right for him with this.

"See," Indrid cuts into his thoughts with his usual litling tone. "Your world and mine are...connected, as it were and I-"

It ends up making a surprising amount of sense to Duck. Indrid makes a surprising amount of sense to Duck now, and that's saying a lot because apparently he's the damned mothman and can see the fuckin' future.

Sometime during their long talk about Sylvain and the Lodge and glasses Aubrey quietly comes in and sits at the table in the other side of the space, and while she looks a little uncomfortable, she also manages to keep the Goat-Man (who Indrid says is named Billy) quiet. 

He's in love with the mothman. He fell in love like some fairy tale prince, heart pounding and yet resigned with everything that life had just decided to leave on his doorstep. 

He visits Indrid every single day after work.

And god, if Duck was in love before it's nothing compared to now. He helps around the lodge more, mostly when Aubrey is stuck sweeping the entire floor or washing dishes, because even though Indrid and Aubrey and Mama had their talk, she's still getting punished for it. 

Mama doesn't threaten to kill him anymore, although the exasperated looks In his general direction have definitely increased. He doesn't ask about the identities of the rest of the Lodge's residents. It seems kind of rude and they're just as 'human' as Indrid usually is, right?

"Billy learned a new word, today." Aubrey is the first to inform him, as he leaves the station. "Guess what it is?"

"Uhh...Hamburger?" It's a good guess, he thinks, because pizza? Aubrey doesn't seem to agree with the way she laughs at him, and tells him to try again. "No clue, just tell me."

"Duck! " She exclaims, throwing her hands up. "He wanted to see you all morning! Or, maybe he just got tired of saying pizza. Guess we'll never know." 

That makes him smile. Billy likes him, doesn't get as worked up when he's around. And thats...bigger than maybe it really is. It seems big. It seems kind of like they're a family.

Family. Duck is so, so happy to have one of those, and is happy to tell Jane when she calls him that yeah, he has a boyfriend! And he loves him! And things are great, and how are you?

Aubrey, and Indrid, and Billy, and Jane, and Juno, and Dani, and sometimes even Ned...that's his family. Maybe he had some of them all along, too. But he understands them better now, he finds. And they seem happy to be a bit more open with him, too (Except for Aubrey, who is always open). And that brings him to Indrid, who makes Duck so, so happy every single day.

He and Indrid are trying hard to take things slow.

Even if they've both expressed a little exasperation at that, Indrid has assured him that it's for the best. That isn't to say there hasn't been a lot of kissing, either. There has been a lot of make out sessions, and Duck can say with some actual confidence that he is no longer out of practice. 

Indrid laughs when he tells him that, and kisses him again.

Duck tells him that he loves him a lot, mostly because he can and that feels great, but also because of the way Indrid brushes it off whenever he says it. 

And Indrid tells him without any hesitation that he loves Duck, too but even through he tries to be cryptic and an untouchable entity, he's not great at taking compliments or realizing that Duck really means it when he says it and that Indrid deserves it.

Barclay gets Indrid new glasses somehow, and they're still big and familiar and red. For the moment they're off his face, Duck sees Indrid underneath all the magic, and doesn't even have to work to not shy away. He's still cute, although he might've not thought that a month or two ago.

Duck Newton wouldn't say that he had ever believed in fate, or destiny, or anything of the sort. Maybe...Maybe fate had just had it out for him up until now. Maybe he could give fate another chance? Indrid sure seemed to believe in it-how could he not?-and so maybe Duck could start, too. 

And he doesn't know what's next, not at all and honestly? He's too afraid to ask, but he still knows what had brought them together. Screw-ups 

Duck Newton's an average guy with a fairly average life and a sad little apartment and a government job and a cat, and maybe that level of mundane would drive some people crazy, but Duck loves someone, and that's all he's ever really needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's the end of this, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it! I definitely wouldn't have finished this is not for my dear friend (ask-indrid on tumblr), and if you'd like to see more of this AU or something entirely different, hit me up at goodmorningaperture.tumblr.com


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